The Lady of Blyledge AU
by The House of Lungbarrow
Summary: AU from 'The Doctor's Wife', will diverge almost immediately from canon, in that pocket universe the Doctor found not only his TARDIS in human form for the second time but also his wife and a few survivors of the war, but just who is backing the Silence and why does the President of Gallifrey need to do about the Temporal Powers. Cover art curtosy of ClaireLyxa on Deviant Art.
1. Old Friends Reunited

**The Lady of Blyledge**

AU from 'The Doctor's Wife', will diverge almost immediately from canon, in that pocket universe the Doctor found not only his TARDIS in human form for the second time but also his wife and a few survivors of the war, but just who is backing the Silence and why does the President of Gallifrey need to do about the Temporal Powers

* * *

It'd been in the back of his mind since he got here, _was it her_?

Footsteps, the Doctor closed his eyes and channelled his third self as the two patchwork people ran.

"Aikido!" The Doctor yelled kicking out at the gunman, to his surprise the gunmen kept hold of his weapon and took hold of he Doctor's foot in an effort to drive him to the floor. But the Doctor was one of the best performers of Venusian aikido, he leant forward with all his weight causing his foot to slip, as he fell forward he jabbed twice at his attacker before dodging a sweeping right-hook. As the Doctor came round for another attack he felt blood pumping in his ears as his fury began to escape, he'd been burying his emotions for too long this was fun. He jabbed again forcing the man to stumble, as the Doctor closed in he stopped, for he now saw just who he was attacking.

"Spandrell?" The Doctor stopped, after-all Spandrell was a very old Time Lord friend.

"Doctor? Rɑsɪlɔnɪl buʃrona! You've done it again, which version is that now?"

"A latter one," was the Doctor's solemn reply.

"Yes, quite right Cardinal," Spandrell nodded ignoring the Doctor's wince at the use of his title.

"Who else is here Castellan?" the Doctor asked drawing in a breath as he looked at his old friend, the Doctor knew Spandrell, he'd never sit back while Time Lords suffered, it was his duty.

"A couple of others Doctor, but first," Spandrell leant forward, the Doctor swiftly caught on.

"Contact," they said in unison, as their minds briefly touched and Spandrell went over the Doctor's thoughts as he did the same, then satisfied they pulled back.

"This way Cardinal…"

The Doctor followed Spandrell in silence, apprehensions' about speaking, the last time the Doctor'd heard of him was that Spandrell had been thrown into an Oubliette cell once Rassilon took power from Romana.

* * *

"My Lord Cardinal," Spandrell spoke drawing out the Doctor to see a youngish man, Time Lord, in bland Prydonian robes, he was dishevelled with black hair in all directions and a soot smeared face. Behind him was an elderly man wearing bright Prydonian orange robes and a skullcap with diamonds in laid, both of them were familiar to the Doctor, but not so much as the woman spread out across the table. Despite being unconscious with a loose white medical robe around her, he was able to recognise her, the high cheekbones, full red lips, and her long blond hair cascading down her slender shoulders and delicately curved chest, through the robes the Doctor could make out the boarder of her flat stomach and her long legs extending beyond the confines of the robe.

"Doctor?" the Doctor suddenly looked up to see the younger Time Lord looking straight at him.

"Damon!" the Doctor called out as he pulled Damon in for a hug, he then turned to the elder Time Lord. "Hedin."

The Doctor nodded solemnly as a sign of respect before returning his attention to Damon.

"How is she?" the Doctor asked, his hand moving to delicately move a strand of hair from her face.

"She's in a self-imposed coma, some sort of neural shock, she needs proper medical attention," Damon said as he looked over the Doctor's shoulder. "Do you know her; she wasn't at the academy was she?"

The Doctor looked up and between them, he merely smiled mysteriously.

"What happened to your TARDIS?" the Doctor asked, he took one of the woman's hands in his, he gently kissed it before looking up.

"We crash landed when something tried to download our TARDIS' fragment of the Space-Time Matrix, but we saw what happens here," Hedin said his tone grave as he looked at his old friend and student. "This planetoid; House, it eats TARDIS."

"What?"

"It has to remove the TARDIS matrix in order to prevent the block-transfer collapse punching a hole in local space time and the general Time pollution," Damon said, after all he was the lead technician and would know what would happen, it was part of his job to oversee TARDIS construction and decommissioning.

"It eats TARDISes, but I-" the Doctor suddenly swept to his feet and took the woman in his hands before running from them back the way he'd come, Damon, Hedin and Spandrell watched him go before following, Spandrell was in the lead position with a staser raised and Damon covering their six with his own staser.

* * *

As the Doctor dashed through the wreckage he struggled to keep the woman stable, she was taller than him! Struggling to a stop the Doctor was able to answer his ringing mobile, the Pipe organ from the Panopticon on Gallifrey rung out as it vibrated.

"_Hey! No sonic screwdriver, also the door seems to have locked behind us. Rory thinks there's a perfectly innocent reason, but I think you've tricked us."_

Amy accused him, the Doctor barely flinched, he was still trying to hold the woman close to his chest with one arm.

"Buisness of the Time Lord High Council, needed you out of the way," the Doctor grunted back.

"_What we're not smart enough for your new friends?"_

The Doctor kept running, but something had hit him.

"The boxes will make you angry… how could she know, she clearly wasn't one of the Sisterhood," the Doctor drew in a breath. "Stay put, I'm sending help."

Coming to an abrupt stop Spandrell was just able to stop hitting the Doctor.

"Ah, Castellan, Damon head to my TARDIS and try to reactivate the systems, Hedin, you're with me," the Doctor begun to turn.

"Doctor, who put you in charge?" Hedin asked stepping forward to challenge him; the Doctor gently placed the woman on the ground and caressed her cheek before drawing up to stare Hedin in the eye.

"I am both the 407th and 409th Lord High President of Gallifrey and under emergency article 45 of the Constitution, in a state of emergency a previous President can be recalled to office," the Doctor then broke off talks with Hedin and turned to Spandrell. "Spandrell, guard this woman and Damon with your life, consider this a direct Presidential order!"

"Acting-President Sir!" Spandrell saluted him before moving forward and taking the lady of his shoulder.

The Doctor began to walk back into the complex of wreckage before turning back to Damon.

"Damon, I'll have your staser…" Damon reluctantly handed the Doctor his weapon before heading off after the Castellan.

The Doctor readied his staser before heading off, Hedin briefly looked to the retreating form of Spandrell and Damon before following the Doctor.

* * *

He strode over and demanded, "How did you know about the boxes? You said they'd make me angry, how did you know?"

The woman opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Ah, it's my thief. And your friends. You found them, that's good". The Doctor glared at her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You don't recognise me because they put me in here!" the madwoman responded.

"No, why should I they put you in the cell for my safety." The Doctor responded evenly the staser cradled in his right hand.

"Not the cage, stupid. In here", she put a hand on either side of her face, "they put me, in here. I'm the...oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go-", and then she made the sound of a dematerialising TARDIS. The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"The TARDIS?" he asked incredulously.

"Time and Relative Dimensions In Space - yes, that's it. Names are funny...it's me. I'm the TARDIS" she smiled.

Hedin scoffed.

"Not possible the TARDIS matrices are too complex for a human mind," the elderly Time Lord responded derisively.

"No of course that's it, that's where they put the Matrix to allow it to fade away peacefully," the Doctor ran his hands before looking to the woman. "I meet the TARDIS in a human form before, it took the shape of Alistair, my oldest non-Time Lord friend."

"The Brigadier?" Hedin smiled. "I liked him,"

The Doctor smiled and nodded as well before he turned back to the cell.

"Oh, have we now reached the point in the conversation where you let me out?" the mad woman, the TARDIS stepped back, the Doctor numbly raised the staser and fired a single bolt, the weapon was set to freeze time around the target before sealing the universe over it, a shadow briefly formed over the door before it was gone. The Madwoman stepped forth and looked at him.

"My Doctor-" the TARDIS started.

"I'm not your property," the Doctor seemed heavily perturbed by this meeting.

"Are all people like this?" the TARDIS tuned to aske Hedin, who in turn looked to the Doctor with questioning eyes.

"Like what?" Hedin stammered back.

"So much bigger on the inside?" the TARDIS asked looking down at herself. "What's that word, I'm…. It'so complicated and sad."

Hedin looked highly confused while the Doctor's thoughts were completely elsewhere, his hearts ached to get back to the bland woman's side, he licked his lips.

"Hedin we need to get to my TARDIS," Hedin looked to the Doctor before nodding and following him out, the TARDIS cocked her head to one side before following.

* * *

After passing through the two patchwork people dying the two Time Lords and the female human arrived at the TARDIS' landing site, Spandrell stood facing outwards from the doors as Damon worked.

"Ah, Doctor, I've cracked two the codes to the cipher-indet lock, I should have the third cracked in no time." Damon looked highly pleased with himself.

"Doesn't matter, I've got the key," the Doctor tossed the key to Spandrell who turned and prepared to open the door when the engines started to run, they stuttered badly and begun to fade away with the blue box.

"No!" the Doctor dasked to the door and tried to put the key into the lock. "I am Lord High President of Gallifrey and I demand you to stop!"

Despite the Doctor's roar the TARDIS faded away.

"ɐṱimow ɐṱimo"

The other Time Lords flinched at the Doctor's profanity.

When the Doctor turned to look at them he addressed Damon.

"Damon, this is a TARDIS graveyard, could you build a working TARDIS?"

Damon seemed to think before answering.

"So long as I can find the requisite parts I should be able to complete a working time transfer console" Damon nodded as he begun to take in the surroundings.

The Doctor turned to the TARDIS woman.

"Old Girl see if you can help him," the Doctor then looked to Hedin and Spandrell. "You two secure the area."

The Doctor tossed the staser to Hedin as he walked over to the woman.

* * *

The Doctor was cradling the woman's head in his lap stroking her hair when Spandrell sat down opposite him.

"I've noticed you have difficulty dealing with the human form of your TARDIS?" Spandrell looked questioningly.

"I've met the TARDIS before and…" the Doctor started. "Well, it was different, it took the form of the Brigadier and that's how I've always seen my TARDIS. Someone I can always rely on, the friend who I stand shoulder to shoulder with when the enemy is at the gates. But I see that woman and…"

Spandrell nodded knowingly.

"Who is she?" Spandrell nodded at the woman's prone form, was she smiling slightly, she wasn't before.

"She is a cousin of the House of Blyledge," the Doctor said simply.

"Anything else?" Spandrell wanted more than that.

"Her secrets are her own, just as she wouldn't reveal my secrets," the Doctor brushed another lock of hair from her face.

Spandrell looked away feeling like he was intruding in a deeply personal moment.

"Doctor!" Damon called out from the homemade console. "We're ready."

* * *

"Ah, Amy, Rory," the Doctor stumbled forward from the console cradeling the woman in his arms as he gently laid her down on the leather seats.

"Are those Time Lords?" Amy asked curiousity shining in her eyes.

"Yes, well, may I introduce Castellan Spandrell, Councillor Hedin, Technician Damon and this," the Doctor paused. "Is the Lady of Blylegde, my wife…"

"Your what?" both Rory and Amy cried out in shock.

"And that's my TARDIS," the Doctor added gesturing at the madwoman who bit him.

"You have a wife!" Amy cried out in disbelief.

"_The environment has been breached., Nephew kill them all," _House's voice echoed throughout the coral themed console room.

"Where's Nephew?" Rory asked looking around.

"He was standing where you materialised," Amy said looking at the two elder Time Lords and their large bulky crystal guns as they lowered them.

"He must have been redistributed," the TARDIS woman mussed, watching the Doctor fuss over his wife; checking her pulse, her breathing and her pupils.

"And that means…" Amy asked looking at the Doctor while suppressing a tiny bit of jealousy at the Doctor's tender interaction.

"We're breathing him," Damon added as he moved to the console. "Doctor, the override."

"_Tell me, why should I kill you now," _House said trying to exude menace, but the Doctor calmly walked to the console.

"You say that like you have a choice," the Doctor said as the gravity increased, Rory, Amy and the TARDIS lady fell to the floor while the Time Lords gritted their teeth and stayed standing while the Doctor entered a set of commands followed by a ten digit code. Suddenly the increased gravity faded and Amy and Rory got up, Hedin moved to the TARDIS woman's side, she was muttering under her breath.

House cried out in pain.

"What are you doing…"

"I've instigated a full override and I'm erasing you consciousness from the exitonic data network," the Doctor added as he made adjustments.

"Without your box of tricks…" the TARDIS woman muttered.

"I have no need of the Hand of Omega to deal with you," the Doctor addressed the invading creature.

"_Who are you to destroy me?" _House spat venom at the Time Lord. _"I exist beyond the confines of this universe, who are you to destroy me? You are merely another Time Lord?"_

"Who am I," the Doctor sneered. "You want to know who I am cretin. I am far more than just another Time Lord... I am the Lord High President of Gallifrey, the traveller from beyond Time, I am the Sandman, the Oncoming Storm, I am the Kar Faraq Gatri; Destroyer of Worlds. I am the Ordinal-General of the House of Lungbarrow, I am the Cardinal of the Prydonian Chapterhouses, I am Time's Champion. I am the Doctor, and I am_ your worst nightmare…"_

The lights dimmed and the cloister bell drowned out Houses' screams.

Leaving the Doctor illuminated by the console.

"Damon get us to the primary console room and download the TARDIS matrix." The Doctor picked up his wife and headed to the door. "Spandrell, you have basic medical training yes?"

"Yes, back when I started in the Chancellery Guard," Spandrell answered.

"Then you're my assistant," the Doctor headed for the door.

"I'm a nurse," Rory added trying to be helpful.

"With no experience of Gallifreyan physiology or the effects mistreatment may have, so no, your help is not necessary." The Doctor smiled briefly. "But thank you for the offer."

His eyes showed his sincerity as he left followed by the Castellan.

"Doctor!" Hedin called out as he dashed after him. "She kept saying one thing; _The Only water in the Forest is a River."_

The Doctor looked confused before looking at him.

"Sorry Hedin, doesn't ring any bells," the Doctor smiled before leaving.

Hedin stood and watched them leave, he hadn't told the Doctor what else she'd said; _I don't know who _he _is._


	2. Changes

"How should I know who they are," Amy hissed at her husband, they were both going stir-crazy, since the Doctor had rescued his fellow Time Lords they'd not gone anywhere or when, that had been a week ago.

"If I wanted to stay round a single place this long we could've stayed at home, we still have things to unpack-"

"Excuse me," Rory was suddenly barged to the side as the Doctor crashed through, he was wearing a long white robe and seemed to be no more than a blur, Rory shared a look with Amy before following on.

As the Doctor crashed into the console he could see Damon refitting a gleaming white panel to the hexagonal console, which was in a completely new configuration, rather than coral glass and bric-a-brac the new console was gleaming controls and blinking lights. The Time Rotor was sealed off with a closed cylinder and glowing pink and blue crystals.

"Ah Doctor, I've finish rebuilding most of the systems, obviously we'll have to run a full recalibration once we land in a safe environment," Damon told the Doctor as he brushed his robes down and removed his gloves.

"Damon, summon the others," the Doctor ordered. "Ring the bell."

As Amy arrived she could see how much the Doctor had changed, his hair was highly dishevelled, he'd grown a small goatee and most of all he had a look of utter desperation is his face, something Amy found extremely disquieting.

"Okay," Damon moved to the opposite panel on the console that held a built in computer monitor, after pressing a series of bottoms he flicked a red switch, and immediately after the cloister bell began to toll. The Doctor then walked forward to inspect the console and smiled as his technician.

"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to having a fully functioning TARDIS again," the Doctor reached the panel over which Damon stood. "Have you completed the chameleon conversion yet?"

"No I thought you liked the blue box?" Damon asked as he leant forward on the console already trying to figure out how to complete the conversion on this antiquated model.

"What's the emergency?" Spandrell crashed in, cloak and skullcap absent with his staser raised, he was followed by Hedin, who was similarly dressed, but in his hand was a large leather bound book.

"Doctor, I'm impressed, your library holds the biggest collection of texts and artefacts on the Old Time and Ancient Gallifrey I've seen outside of the Panopticon archive. It's extraordinary." Hedin smiled absolutely, after all his passion was ancient Gallifreyan history and his experience with Omega had made him a shrewd and pragmatic researcher, such that when Rassilon returned he refused to support the motion.

The Doctor returned the smile and turned to Damon and nodded who switched the bell off.

Amy watched as the Doctor took in his Time Lord friends, before turning to Hedin.

"My wife has yet to recover from whatever psychic shock hit her," the Doctor swallowed before continuing. "She has retreated into deep shock; I've been able to establish fleeting telepathic contact… I've tried to make her recall our ch-. I need help to draw her out. Hedin can you find remnants of the Pythia, like the Sisterhood?"

Hedin's brow ceased.

"Maybe, it's possible some group of survivors fled before Karn was destroyed, or some other diaspora, I must consult the book of the Old Time." Hedin turned to leave before standing rigid as an idea struck him. "Damon, if I could find a telepathic imprimatur inside one of the texts could you use this TARDIS' systems to detect a matching signature?"

Damon looked puzzled before grinning.

"Yes I suppose so, this TARDIS does possess temporal monitoring equipment," Damon mussed before nodding. "That is a yes!"

As they dispersed the Doctor turned and seemingly for the first time noticed Amy and Rory.

"Oh hello, sorry I've been a tad busy," the Doctor sighed apologetically before looking to Spandrell, his eyes carrying a hidden message. "I won't be able to take you on any adventures for a while but you've free range of the ship."

Clicking his fingers he left them as Spandrell arrived to guide them to one of the recreation pods, Amy watched worried as the white robed Doctor fled the room presumably to the med bay

* * *

Hedin once more entered the massive Library section on ancient Gallifrey, the room itself was a massive hexagonal area not unlike the Panopticon. Going clockwise from the main entrance featuring a statue of Rassilon, he swiftly located a series of texts about the Old Time and the Pythia of Old Gallifrey. He pulled out as many texts as he could and breathed in the heavenly scent of old books and cloisters just like the Capitol, with an armful of as many books as he could he prepared to turn another book caught his eye, it was bound in a reptile skin and as Hedin pulled it free he saw the indentation of the Seal of Rassilon, underneath scrawled in Old High Gallifreyan were the words;

_The Book of Prophecy: The Order of Pythia Vaults_

Hedin staggered in disbelief; he was the foremost expert on Gallifreyan history and everything he'd ever read suggested that it'd been destroyed during resistance to Rassilon's rule after the Other fled., Hedin looked over his shoulder. He then swiftly took the book and added it to the pile.

* * *

Spandrell had just got rid of the two humans when he reached the massive double doors to the Doctor's room, a giant Seal of Rassilon was imprinted on the doors. To the side was an entry coder, likely set to the Presidential codes. But Spandrell was not without resources, bringing out his TARDIS key, he opened the coded and begun to splice the key in. While in the Capitol he was not known for general technical skills, most Gallifreyans ignored the fact that he spent a great deal of time with Coordinator Engin and in fact had a great deal of knowledge of technology, but in the Capitol it was best to play down skills so that people would underestimate you.

After a little manipulation Spandrell caused the cipher indet lock to open, casting a glance over his shoulder he edged the door open and slipped in before closing it behind him.

On the other side he found himself in a massive hexagonal room, the lights were low, three of the walls on his left by the doors were lined with book cases, the wall opposite the door was covered by a massive portrait of the Doctor's cousins at the House of Lungbarrow, Spandrell recognised a couple, like Glospin, Quences and Innocet. On the one of the remaining sides were thirteen mannequins with clothing on and portraits above, the first wore red Prydonian robes with full regalia, the second had checked trousers a bowtie and long jacket, the third had a ruffled shirt, velvet smoking jacket and a cape, the forth wore leather boots, crimson trousers and trench coat with a massive crimson scarf, the fifth had an Edwardian cricket uniform and matching cream frock coat, the sixth wore a frankly offensive multi-coloured outfit and coat. By this point Spandrell had realised these were the clothes worn by his past selves. In front of the final wall was a mannequin wearing some of the Presidential robes, everything was there; Sash, Rod, and Coronet and was that the Great Key…

Spandrell stepped forward to look past the robes, briefly looking up he saw that the screen was set as an infinity chamber displaying the night sky as seen from Mount Lung in Southern Gallifrey. As he reached the wall he saw a massive number of portraits, grouped into eleven areas of unequal size, presumably his companions Spandrell surveyed a few of them; a teenage girl with short hair, and older woman with wide eyes and long dark hair, another wearing a velvet suit with chestnut curls of hair, Spandrell knew her from the Doctor's visit to Gallifrey during the Omega crisis, a young human female with a mischievous look and a bomber jacket covered with badges who Spandrell knew the Doctor enrolled into the Prydonian Academy on Gallifrey. Spandrell tore his gaze and looked up; at pride of place on the very top of the wall over the Seal of Rassilon was another painting of a beautiful lady with short black hair and a straight golden gown. Her shoulders were bare; she wore a necklace with a blue gem pendant and held a scroll in her hand. Spandrell squinted at the scroll seeing the Old High Gallifreyan.

_'Death is But a Door,'_

Spandrell whispered under his breath and stepped back as the wall in front of him peeled away to reveal a passageway, Spandrell checked his handcom, patched into the TARDIS security systems and checked that no one was coming before he entered.

* * *

Amy was bored, both she and Rory had watched all of the entertainment from relative Earth but couldn't access anything else. They both sat on the ground and started when the door opened. Damon walked in and seemed surprised to see them both sitting there.

"Why aren't using the systems?" Damon looked between them, confused.

"Because Spandrell locked them, all except contemporary Earth stuff," Amy said pointedly glaring at him.

Damon swallowed before beckoning them out.

"Well, we're probably going to be in one place for a while and the Doctor has empowered me to take you home." Damon offered looking between the two humans.

* * *

It was as if Spandrell was walking amongst the stars, inside the dimensional corridor it was impossible to judge perspective, the room could be the size of a bedchamber or the entire Capitol.

A field of candles was set against a black background. The room was warmed by them, filled by their fragrance, that of a rose, or to Gallifreyan noses a Sarlain flower. Stepping forward Spandrell could see a small glass bowl and a necklace amongst flower blossoms, Spandrell'd seen it before.

Closing his eyes he could feel the peaceful waves, this was a Zero Room.

* * *

Amy and Rory held their bags as Damon landed the TARDIS, the ride was smoother than any of the Doctor's flights, although Damon credited that to the instrumentation now that all of the automates had been removed.

"Here we are, based on the coordinates just twenty four hours after you left," Damon made an adjustment causing the doors to open. "We will come back, if that's what you want."

He promised as they left the TARDIS.

* * *

Kovarian cursed as they watched the Doctor's companions depart, all her plans were derailed as the two humans left the Time-Capsule. She felt a presence behind her and saw the Black clad figure, and the void underneath.

_They will return; the Vengeance of the Eternals is not easily avoided…_

With that the black figure disappeared, as ever Kovarian had doubts over her mission's success.

* * *

Madam Charlotte Beaut sat in her home, she was in Earth in the early 1800's, a terrible place not befitting of a descendant of the Cult of Pythia, the ancient rulers of the Gallifreyan Empire.

Her musing was interrupted by the noise of a TARDIS, Charlotte sneered and raised an ornate dagger as a blue box materialised. Charlotte raised the dagger, from the open doors emerged an elderly Time Lord with a staser raised and a younger Time Lord with floppy parted hair, his whole demeanour showed arrogance.

"My Lady of the Sisterhood," the Time Lord leant forward and bowed, Charlotte then saw the sheer desperation in his eyes. "As President-elect of the Time Lords I request your help."

Charlotte lowered the dagger and smiled insincerely.

"And what pray tell Time Lord, what do your request my help with?" Charlotte asked sizing the Time Lord up.

"An acquaintance of mine is in telepathic retreat from psychic shock," the Doctor replied evenly, his eyes belied his desperation.

"Very well, give me a moment to consult the loa," Charlotte left the room to head for her basement.

The Doctor watched the cultist leave, he could feel the very foundations of the House echoing with the power of the Old Time, a dark and terrible power, a magic that should be destroyed.

"We should leave," Spandrell grated out, he could feel it too.

"No we wait…"

* * *

A few hours later she re-entered, a vicious smile on her lips.

"I'll help you, for a price…"

"What is the price?" the Doctor asked.

"Show me Karn's last moments," Charlotte asked smiling like a predator.

"Very well, you will save her first so I can be sure of your good faith," the Doctor requested smugly before clicking his fingers as an anti-grav stretcher arrived with the Lady's figure on, Charlotte seethed before stepping forward and chanting.

The Doctor gritted his teeth as the Quantum mnemonics rang forth, he watched with baited breath as the Lady awoke. Her eyes opened and she eased herself up.

Within seconds the Doctor was at her side, she looked into his eyes and shared a moment of instant recognition before looking at Charlotte. The Doctor took her hand as they entered the TARDIS.

"Damon," with a single word Damon came out of the TARDIS and gave Charlotte a plain crystal Matrix datacube before retreating to the TARDIS.

* * *

Martha stood beside her husband in Jack's temporary base, Sarah with them as they discussed old times, laughing at anecdotes about the Doctor, in the midst of their laughter the TARDIS materialised. Jack stepped forth first as the doors opened and the new Doctor bounded out taking Jack into a big bear hug.

"Jack, Martha, Mickey, Sarah!" the Doctor hugged them all in turn before turning from his dumbfounded former companions to look at the TARDIS.. "Good work Damon spot on."

It was then the Sarah noticed that rather than the bowtie and tweed jacket he was wearing an orange robe and skullcap.

"Now, I know this is a bit strange but, I would like you all to act as witnesses for a ceremony," the Doctor asked surveying his former travelling companions.

"What type of ceremony?" Martha asked, unconsciously twirling her wedding ring.

"My inauguration," the Doctor smiled as he turned to the TARDIS. "Is that a yes or a no?"

With that the Doctor entered his ship; Jack shared a look with the others before following.

The console room had completely changed, the ceiling was clear with a star view, clearly not from Earth, beneath this was a model of a binary solar system, the infamous figure of eight symbol of the Time Lords, the Seal of Rassilon, was placed all over on every planetoid. The room was built as a hexagonal prism; at each corner were white trees with glowing Silver Leaves that reflected the light as both a whole flare and a refracted the light to show the mix of the spectrum. AT the centre was a hexagonal panel with lines dividing the hexagon into six similar triangles; one was coloured scarlet, the triangle on the left was green, the one to the right of the first was heliotrope, and the other three were silver-grey, pink and blue; a colour for each of the Chapters of Time Lord society. At the centre was a gleaming white console covered in switches, high-tech crystal touchscreens and holographically projected 3D displays of Gallifreyan writing and Time Line projections.

But the Doctor's attention was drawn by the figure standing at the hexagonal archway to the rest of the TARDIS.

"Alistair," the Doctor called as he brought his once more young looking best friend forward, he'd picked the regenerated Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from after Benny's wedding leaving the two friends once more looking to be close in age. "Now as you can see this is the Brigadier, but not an earlier version, he was regenerated by the Timewyrm at Benny's wedding, so you don't have to watch what you say."

Swiftly realising exactly what he was saying the Doctor broke his gaze as he saw Sarah glaring at him.

"Hello Sarah," the others suddenly turned as the older John Benton stepped forward to pull Sarah into a hug and to introduce himself to the others.

Breaking away from them the Doctor reached Damon at the console.

"Please find the last," the Doctor turned to Damon, his eyes pleading, he'd already picked up so many; Mel, Tegan, Turlough, Ian, Barbara and so many others… But the last one, this was different.

Damon nodded as he opened the TARDIS' biodata archive and selected the relevant stand to bring the TARDIS to her location.

"If you like Doctor I could talk to…" Damon started only for the Doctor to cut him off.

"No, I destroyed her life; I need to talk to her,"

* * *

"What's the Doctor up to?" Sarah asked the Brigadier, it was strange seeing him so young once more, yet in his eyes he seemed so much younger in thought than he ever was originally.

"I can't say," the Brig's eyes shined a little mischievously, he clearly was heavily involved in the Time Lord's schemes.

"What can you say then?" Jack asked, still uneasy around the legendary Brigadier due to his time with Torchwood.

"What I can say is that the TARDIS is now set onto a Gallifreyan time rotation. That is day and night is divided into nine hours, signified by a bell tolling. Due to relative time of year each hour is about 96 minutes."

"What do you mean about?" Martha asked pushing forward to walk beside the Brigadier; she wanted to learn as much as she could about who the Doctor was.

"On Gallifrey day and night are divided into nine hours each which alternate in length with the length of a day and night so there are exactly nine hours of light and dark," Alistair said looking down at the floor.

"You've been there, been to Gallifrey?" Sarah asked a little hurt, after all that was the excuse the Doctor'd used to dump her in Aberdeen.

"Well once, at the start of the war…" Alistair whispered, he still remembered with perfect clarity the start of the conflict which scared the Doctor so, the Nightmare Child's birth, the rise of Death's Champion and the last desperate deal the Doctor made with his dark reflection; the Valeyard. "The Doctor repealed the ban on non-Gallifreyans during his first term as President of Gallifrey"

The Brigadier calmly said to asuage Sarah's annoyance, drawing a barrage of 'What's.

* * *

The TARDIS landed in the future of the human race in the early 36th century on a medical research ship, with a great sense of foreboding the Doctor left the TARDIS and entered the main lab, to find someone looking directly at him.

"Hello Nyssa," the Doctor said looking at how much his old companion had changed, he youthful face had given way to mature lines, he chestnut curls were flickered with greys.

"Hello Doctor, I see you've regenerated again, how's Tegan?" Nyssa sat on a lab stool with a white laboratory coat over her velvet Traken outfit.

"She's fine, actually she's inside, so's Turlough," the Doctor added. "The Master's dead."

Nyssa looked at him.

"I never wanted revenge Doctor," she reminded him.

"I know,"

"Why are you here?" Nyssa asked as she got up to look her old teacher in the eye.

"I'm conducting a ceremony for the temporal powers, to show them that the Laws still mean something, that rationality still holds sway," the Doctor responded. "I've invited most of my former companions to join me, and I'd like you to join as well."

"Alright Doctor, just this once," Nyssa shed her coat and entered the TARDIS.

The Doctor smiled slightly in her wake before turning to join her.

* * *

It had been three months since the Damon had returned Amy and Rory to home when an envelope with the Seal of Rassilon materialised in their living room. The envelope was Prydonian red.

Inside was an invitation handwritten by the Doctor with the request to join him on the TARDIS for an induction, they were told to wear their best clothes.

So now they both stood, Amy was in a knee length TARDIS blue dress and Rory was in a tuxedo as the TARDIS materialised before them, the doors opened and Damon looked out, he was wearing a strange ceremonial almost military uniform with a polished breast plate.

"Come in," Damon beckoned the Ponds into the TARDIS, where they stopped and stared around the new console room.

"You've redecorated," Rory breathed, it looked incredible to his eyes.

"I don't like it," Amy said, she missed the fairy tale like manner of her imaginary friend and his magic box.

"Damon, My husband wants to know if…" Rory, Damon and Amy turned to see the source of the voice as the woman walked into the chamber, Rory's mouth had dropped. She was wearing a strapless white dress made of a very thin material that was almost transparent showing her midriff quite clearly, probally due to whatever Gallifryan clothing the areas just above and below her stomach were obscured, there was a split along the middle allowing one of her legs to show through, not that she seemed to realise. She was tall, very tall at about 1.9 meters, her legs seemed to stretch on forever, her hips were well defined and she was slender with breasts that were on the larger side for her frame, her shoulders were bare and lightly freckled, long blonde hair cascaded down both sides of her face from a parting on the right side of her head and her blue eyes sparkled with amusement at Rory's reaction, Damon seemed to be oblivious.

Amy moved her hand to close her husband's mouth before glaring up at the gorgeous Time Lady, although Amy was loath to admit it, she found herself feeling jealous of the Lady's appearance. Amy tried to focus on her eyes.

"Very well, I'll go and prepare, the TARDIS is set to guide them to the Panopticon," she then looked to the humans. "My husband will introduce us later."

With one last looked she turned and left, Amy hit Rory as he watched her leave, Damon seemed to jump from his work on the console when a bell began to toll.

"First Bell…" Damon breathed pulling on a bulbous red helmet. "Follow the flashing lights to the Panopticon chamber and wait there."

Amy and Rory ran off as the TARDIS entered the vortex.


	3. Inaugaration

Amy and Rory stood in a massive hexagonal chamber in the TARDIS, none of the Time Lords were present, however the room also contained a large group of aliens and some humans; the Doctor's old companions like Sarah and the Brigadier.

Suddenly a pipe organ started and the aliens and humans formed into rows as Hedin came down the steps wearing full golden Time Lord robes with a staff, he was followed by the Doctor in a flowing white robe and the other Time Lords, again Rory was struck by the woman, Patience's, beauty even while wearing the uniform of a Chancellery Guard, the tight red trousers hugging her legs gloriously. With the music still running the Doctor stood onto a circular podium as Hedin struck the floor three times causing the music to stop.

"Honoured members of the Supreme Council, Cardinals, Time Lords, others. We are here today to honour the will and the wisdom of Rassilon." Hedin called out, his voice magnified throughout the chamber.

Amy's attention drifted off through the ceremony, part of her wondered how the Doctor was able to hold so still for so long as Hedin, Spandrell and Damon listed off a long winded speech about the wisdom of Rassilon, the sacrifice of Omega and the foresight of the Other. Hedin once more took the centre stage and stuck the floor. "Is there anyone here to contest the candidate's right to the Sash of Rassilon?"

He struck the floor.

"Is there anyone here to contest the candidate's right to the Rod of Rassilon?"

When met with silence he struck the floor a second time.

"Is there anyone here to contest the candidate's right to the Great Key of Rassilon?"

When met with more silence Hedin struck the floor for a final time.

"By custom, with wisdom, and for honour, I shall strike three times. Should no dissenting voice be heard by the third stroke, I will, duty-bound, invest the candidate as President of the Supreme Council of the Time Lords of Gallifrey."

Hedin then struck a further three times before looking around the assembled crowds.

"It is my duty and privilege, having the consent of the Time Lords of Gallifrey, to invest you as President of the Supreme Council. Accept, therefore, the Sash of Rassilon." Hedin stopped as the pipe organ flared and Damon put the Sash over the Doctor's head. "Accept, therefore, the Rod of Rassilon." Patience moved forward with a cushion holding the Rod, the Doctor reached out to take it. "Seek, therefore, to find the Great Key of Rassilon."

The Doctor reached out to the final empty cushion held by Spandrell and held his hand out outstretched.

Hedin stepped up to join him on the Podium as the Doctor raised his left hand, the Rod cradled in his right arm.

"Do you swear to uphold the Laws of Gallifrey?" Hedin asked; his tone perfectly level and echoing through the room.

"I swear," the Doctor said solemnly.

"Do you swear to follow in the wisdom of Rassilon?"

"I swear,"

"Do you swear to protect the Law and the wisdom?"

"I swear,"

Hedin nodded as the Matrix Coronet rose from the floor, Hedin gently took and cradled it in his hands and moved behind the Doctor who kneelt.

"I invest you Lord High President of the Supreme Council. I wish you good fortune and strength. I give you the Matrix." As Hedin placed the coronet firmly over the Doctor's head the pipe organs began to play once more as the assembled Time Lords kneelt, the Brigadier and his other companions followed, as begrudgingly did the assembled dignitaries, Amy and Rory kneelt in the middle.

After a minute the music faded away and the Doctor arose, Hedin once more took charge.

"Please be upstanding, the President must make his inaugural address!"

"Time Lords of Gallifrey, friends and foreign dignitaries, as Lord High President of the Time Lords I pledge to uphold the Laws of Time and Protect Eternity. Since the War the universe has fallen into a terrible state, any faction with sufficient technology can develop time travel, people can violate the Laws of Time freely, this must end! As of now we must begin the process of rebuilding and reconciliation, today once more the great powers of the universe must bind together to protect eternity. As Lord President of the Time Lords I will preserve the universe," with that the Doctor turned to leave before turning back to the assembled crowed. "For my first act as President I recall the High Council and Nominate Councillor Hedin as Lord High Chancellor of the Time Lords and once more open peace talks with the assembled time faring races as begun by the most esteemed and honoured former President Romanadvoratrelundar, I bid you thanks for gathering at this the start of a new temporal age of rationality as the Time Lords return to once more govern and guide the Web of Time."

With those final words the Doctor left followed by his honour guard, the pipe organ once again playing as a low level of annoyed chatter began amongst the alien time farers.

* * *

Nyssa stood next to Tegan and was discussing the differences to the Doctor after they had left him when Turlough came over, he seemed older, his once bright orange hair flecked by greys. While Nyssa and a majority of the former companions present were merely guests Turlough had an official role as the head of Government for Trion, which had recently achieved Time technology.

"So, what did you think?" Turlough asked them as a way of greetings.

"Alright I presume, flattered the Doctor's ego enough, if he wanted the Presidency he should have taken it when we were on Gallifrey." Tegan noted as she looked up and down the massive chamber.

"Yes, well in hindsight I believe he wished that he had now," Turlough said sadly.

* * *

Back inside the Doctor's massive quarters he'd shed the white Presidential Induction robes and was putting on the full Presidential robes, Patience sat on the Doctor's bed, now wearing the full red robes of a Prydonian Cardinal.

The Doctor looked down at his robes then turned to look at the mannequins of his previous incarnations, as his eyes hovered over his fourth, Fifth and Sixth incarnations his eyes briefly sparked with hatred, _the Valeyard was right; Hindsight is a terrible gift._

Shaking himself free of his thoughts he draped the Sash over his head and onto the collar before walking over to Patience, at that instant she looked up to face him in the eye.

"Are we going to talk about it?" Patience delicately raised an eyebrow while giving the Doctor a glare so cold that it would freeze stars.

The Doctor swallowed, he knew this was coming.

A bell begun to chime.

"Saved by the bell," he muttered before looking down at his feet and offering his arm, Patience glared before pulling the collar over her robes and taking the Doctor's arm.

* * *

"Cricket, cricket, cricket, that's all he ever seemed to go on about…"

Amy laughed at Tegan's stories of the fifth Doctor, the idea that her imaginary friend could have been an older-man who just wanted to play cricket seemed difficult to reconcile, yet Tegan's stories told their own story.

"Why did you leave?" Amy asked Tegan, it was something that'd been weighing on her mind since Tegan had introduced herself as choosing to leave his company.

Tegan licked her lips and looked to the side.

"Is that your husband?" Tegan nodded her head towards Rory who had been reeled in to talk to Martha and Mickey.

"Yeah?" Amy looked back before returning her gaze to Tegan.

"The Doctor, picks up many people in his travels, but he has one constant companion, Death," Tegan's anger was beginning to rise. "Wherever he goes Death follows, at first its easy to ignore, but over time it stops being fun."

"That's not what it's like!" Amy rushed to the Doctor's defence but was silenced by a single look from Tegan.

"Ask him about Adric," Tegan said with just a bit of venom. "Or look at it this way, how many times had you seen a gun before you meet the Doctor? How many have you seen since you travels begun?"

"Well a few but…"

"And as for the Doctor's resistance to guns, it's nothing more than a token; give him a cyberman and he'll take its gun and shoot it's head off, for the Time Lords he raised a gun and executed Omega in cold blood, he destroyed the Silurians, decided to murder Davros and released a bioweapon specifically to destroy Daleks," Tegan looked as though she could list more, but felt as though she'd made her point.

"Someday, you won't find it fun anymore, and you'll leave," Tegan then walked away looking in sympathy, Amy moved her hands to her stomach with a twinge.

"_If we may have your attention!" _Hedin stood at the summit of the Panopticon, two figures in Time Lord robes where behind him. _"Presenting The Lord Doctor, 407__th__, 409__th__, 414__th__ and 416__th__ President of Gallifrey, Ordinal-General of the House of Lungbarrow and 423rd of the Brotherhood of Kirthrarchs, and the Lady Patience Ordinal-General of the House of Blyledge, Cardinal of the Prydonian Chapter Houses."_

Together the two Time Lords shifted the centre of attention, their message clear; the Time Lords where here to stay. The Brigadier was always close by and Turlough lurked between the scenes spreading good will about the Time lords and trying to ferment good relations.

As Amy watched she began to feel distant as though she was being dragged under water and drowned, she stumbled and nearly fell over.

* * *

Charlotte Beaut looked up with horror as the figure entered her chambers; he was swamped by a black cloak, just as she prepared to use her knowledge of Quantum mnemonics to defend herself the figure was at her throat.

"_The Time Lords where did they go?" _he hissed into her ears, the fury was like ice, suddenly the cool metal of a knife was at her throat. "_I suggest you talk, otherwise you will face a premature journey to that undiscovered country from whose born no traveller returns."_

He then released her and raised a phallic looking device with a bulbous end, clearly a weapon, whatever he added onto it was drowned at as the power of the Great Old Ones crashed through her and… and only blew down the individuals cloak revealing the face beneath the hood. She screamed as she saw the man with slicked back black hair and a cruel, hawklike face with a black goatee, his eyes were hate filled, overall he seemed to radiate malevolence, with no redeeming features whatsoever .

"_You seek to challenge me WITCH!" _the person roared, before laughing, it was a cruel sound, a cackle of pure evil. "_I will destroy you!"_

He pressed the control on the TCE and Charlotte dissolved into light before shrinking to a doll sized figure, dead.

Had there been any witnesses they would have continued to hear the evil cackle and the wheezing of a TARDIS' relative dimensional stabiliser.

* * *

The celebration had been going on for some time, many of the alien time powers seemed to be begging for the Doctor's favour as President, meanwhile the others were forming desperate power blocs.

Amy sat by the side before gasping her stomach in pain.

"Doctor!" Rory called out looking as the robed figure of the Doctor broke off discussions with the Monan ambassador.

"Damon!" the Doctor called as he rushed over, his hands pulling up the hem of his robes to make running easier.

As the two Time Lords crashed to Rory's side amongst the eyes of the time powers, the Doctor pulled Rory back in an iron grip.

"Castellan, keep Rory back, Martha here please," the Doctor stepped forward as Spandrell restrained the struggling Rory. "Damon, Martha, any diagnosis?"

"But… If I didn't know better I'd say she was in labour, but-" Martha was cut off.

"Damon?" the Doctor asked, his hands inside the folds of his Presidential robes, face passive.

"This isn't a real body," Damon said as he smoothed down to address the crowds. "This is some form of projected manner, a drone sent to spy on us!"

In response Amy suddenly dissolved into a white goo.

"No!" Rory slipped from Spandrell's gasp and ran to the white goo.

"A deliberate act against us!" Spandrell hissed.

The dignitaries began to murmur as Martha got up and stood beside the Doctor, her eyes accusing.

"You knew!" she hissed, the Doctor merely raised an eyebrow before looking to the milling dignitaries.

"Fellow dignitaries, we are under threat!" at the Doctor's shout all of the milling stopped as the all turned, Martha no longer saw her friend, instead she saw the Lord High President of Gallifrey. "This can only be attempted by a terrorist organisation working to only one goal; the disruption of this conference, to start a temporal war. Such an organisation is not just a threat to us but a threat to everyone; we must stamp out this threat together…"

As the Doctor trailed off there was a general murmur of assent from the dignitaries, not that Rory realised that, all he cared about was that his wife was gone.


End file.
